Salinger
Page 26
Throughout October . . . regained consciousness: This passage comes from material in Genius in Disguise by Thomas Kunkel.
“He wouldn’t live . . . a child’s voice”: This quote comes from my interview with Mary D. Kierstead.
“The gossip was . . . phobia was”: This quote comes from my interview with Tom Wolfe.
NINE STORIES
In late January . . . at most magazines: On April 27, 1998, I published “The Talk of the Town,” an article about William Shawn and Lillian Ross, in New York. For that article, I interviewed experts on and colleagues and friends of Shawn, among them Amanda Vaill, Frances Kiernan, Ved Mehta, Mary D. Kierstead, Daniel Menaker, Naomi Bliven, Ian Frazier, Thomas Kunkel, Tom Yagoda, and Gigi Mahon.
Around this time . . . angry at him: The Salinger-Burnett correspondence is at Princeton.
When Hamish Hamilton heard . . . Florida and Mexico: These two letters are at Princeton.
On the evening they . . . hinted at it”: These paragraphs, including the direct quotes, come from my interview with Leila Hadley.
The land belonged to . . . February 16, 1953: This passage is based on information I received from the Sullivan County Courthouse in Newport, New Hampshire.
On January 31 . . . within four tiled walls”: “Teddy,” Nine Stories, Little, Brown, 1953.
On the second . . . new life in the country: The Salinger-Hamish Hamilton correspondence is at Princeton.
In early April . . . made him want to write more: Salinger’s letter to the New Yorker is in the Rare Books and Manuscript Division of the New York Public Library.
CLAIRE
In the future Nabokov himself . . . Lolita: Strong Opinions by Vladimir Nabokov, Vintage, 1974.
“I never saw anyone fit in . . . to play just one more”: This comment was made by Shirlie Blaney to Ernest Havemann for his article “The Search for the Mysterious J. D. Salinger” which appeared in Life on November 3, 1961.
He was born on January 1, 1919 . . . Salinger ended the interview: “Interview With an Author” by Shirlie Blaney, The Claremont Daily Eagle, November 13, 1953.
It was following this episode . . . around the house: This detail comes from “The Search for the Mysterious J. D. Salinger.”
Then, at one party . . . nineteen-year-old: This description of the family of Claire Douglas comes from “Sonny: An Introduction,” “The Search for the Mysterious J. D. Salinger,” J. D. Salinger by Warren French, and the Salingers’ certificate of marriage issued by the State of Vermont.
Not long after the party . . . she was dating both men: “Sonny: An Introduction.”
On another front Hamish Hamilton . . . in the series: This letter from Hamish Hamilton to Salinger is at Princeton.
He wired Hamilton . . . that was that: Salinger’s letter to Hamish Hamilton is at Princeton,
In December, Salinger and Lobrano . . . for Christmas: These letters exchanged between Salinger and Gus Lobrano are in the Rare Books and Manuscript Division of the New York Public Library.
The plot to “Franny” . . . whether she wants to or not: “Franny,” Franny and Zooey, Little, Brown, 1961.
To be accurate . . . to Salinger: This information comes from my interview with Frances Glassmoyer.
On his marriage certificate . . . first marriage: This detail comes from Salinger’s certificate of marriage.
“One afternoon I was up at Columbia . . . quick-witted young man”: This quote comes from my interview with Dorothy Ferrell.
THE GLASS FAMILY
“It’s anybody’s guess . . . or over it”: S. J. Perelman made this comment in a letter to Leila Hadley at the time; the quote was reproduced by Phoebe Hoban in her article “The Salinger File” which appeared in New York magazine on June 15, 1987.
They also visited . . . “true Karma yogi”: The correspondence between Salinger and Judge Learned Hand is in the Houghton Library at Harvard University.
“Mr. Shawn was a wonderful man . . . with one another”: This quote comes from my interview with Mary D. Kierstead.
“When he first came . . . but he did”: This quote comes from my interview with Roger Angell.
“What follows directly” . . . “by way of explanation”: “Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters,” Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction, Little, Brown, 1963.
Because Sol Salinger . . . doting, accepting: This impression of Sol comes from my interview with Richard Gonder and is reflected in several stories.
“It is clear . . . the Quest”: “J. D. Salinger: Some Crazy Cliff” by Arthur Heisermann and James E. Miller has been reprinted in various anthologies, among them Salinger: A Critical and Personal Portrait edited by Henry Anatole Grunwald, Harper and Brothers, 1962.
In March 1956 . . . Diamond Jubilee Issue: I was given a copy of this story by Michael Solomon.
Cutting his own work . . . “wait for so eagerly”: This letter from Katherine White to Salinger is in the Rare Books and Manuscript Division of the New York Public Library.
Eager to visit with Hamilton . . . could see her: This letter from Salinger to Hamish Hamilton is at Princeton.
The narrator of “Zooey” . . . “smiling at the ceiling”: “Zooey,” Franny and Zooey, Little, Brown, 1961.
What the publishing . . . at this moment: This Salinger-Little, Brown correspondence was described in a catalogue published by the Book Department of Sotheby’s in 1997; I was given a copy by Sotheby’s of the page of the catalogue on which this letter was described.
The episode . . . Hamilton again: The information in this passage comes from the Salinger-Hamish Hamilton correspondence which is at Princeton.
“He was in New York . . . talk with me”: This quote comes from “The Private World of J. D. Salinger” by Edward Kosner which appeared in the New York Post on April 30, 1961.
By the time Salinger wrote . . . his own writing: “Seymour: An Introduction,” Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction, Little, Brown, 1963.
“Read J. D. Salinger’s . . . enchanted”: The Journals of Sylvia Plath by Sylvia Plath, Dial Press, 1982.
Burnett made his request . . . changed his mind: These letters are at Princeton.
HEROES AND VILLAINS
These and other rumors . . . was write: Edward Kosner supplied me with a copy of his article “The Private World of J. D. Salinger.”
The magazine’s cover . . . unusual drawings: A copy of the September 15, 1961 Time is in the general collection of the Butler Library at Columbia University.
“I had already done . . . readings of his stories”: This quote comes from my interview with Russell Hoban.
On the issue of his fondness . . . “is clearly an original”: In Search of J. D. Salinger by Ian Hamilton.
“In February 1962 . . . why he loved his work”: These quotes come from my interview with Gordon Lish.
GOOD-BYES
The story is . . . and so on: I was given a copy of “Hapworth 16, 1924” by Michael Solomon.
“In fact . . . the outer world anymore”: This quote comes from my interview with Edward Kosner.
During 1964 . . . “I felt embarrassed to use it”: The Salinger-Burnett correspondence is at Princeton.
“In April of 1965 . . . increase our circulation”: This quote comes from my interview with Tom Wolfe.
“Claire Salinger was a wonderful . . . nobody interrupted him”: This quote comes from my interview with Ethel Nelson.
“I think it was tough . . . his little writing room”: Ibid.
“There was some gossip . . . eating habits”: This quote comes from my interview with Warren French.
By the summer of 1966 . . . given to me”: This letter is among the Salingers’ divorce papers which are on file in the Sullivan County Courthouse in Newport, New Hampshire.
In the divorce papers . . . “endangered her reason”: This information is from the Salingers’ divorce papers.
“I found some improvement . . . mental upset
”: This letter is among the Salingers’ divorce papers.
The cause of the divorce . . . “payment of tuitions”: This information comes from the Salingers’ divorce papers.
Towards the end of 1968 . . . wished him well: These letters are at Princeton.
Through the years . . . looking at Charles Addams: This quote comes from my interview with Andreas Brown.
JOYCE
“I heard local gossip . . . through the years”: This quote is taken from a letter written by Warren French to me on December 1, 1997.
“Sitting on the floor . . . clearly a woman”: A reprint of this cover is included in At Home in the World by Joyce Maynard, Picador, 1998.
“There were pictures . . . the Lolita of all Lolitas”: This quote comes from an unnamed source.
Salinger, who would . . . of Yale University: A copy of Maynard’s Times Magazine cover story is in the general collection of the Butler Library at Columbia University.
In 1972, Joyce Maynard . . . did not share: Much of the material here is in At Home in the World by Joyce Maynard. A version of this passage was included in “J. D. Salinger’s Women,” an article I published in New York magazine on February 2, 1998.
“When I walked . . . off a radiator”: This quote comes from my interview with Leslie Epstein.
So, late in the spring . . . “J. D. Salinger”: At Home in the World by Joyce Maynard.
“It was known . . . protecting her”: This quote comes from my interview with Samuel Heath.
“Her father was furious . . . to sell out”: This quote comes from an unnamed source.
No doubt Joyce . . . ten months: Much of this material is confirmed in At Home in the World by Joyce Maynard.
THEFT, RUMOR, AND INNUENDO
“Lee Eisenberg, a young man . . . where it came from”: This quote comes from my interview with Gordon Lish.
It was a cold and rainy fall evening . . . hanging the telephone up: This section about the John Greenberg episode is based on the November 3, 1974 New York Times article “J. D. Salinger Speaks About His Silence” by Lacey Fosburgh as well as my interview with Andreas Brown.
“Through the years” . . . “your coming here”: This episode is based on the November 18, 1974 Newsweek article by Bill Roeder.
Then, in that same year, 1975 . . . “let us observe the consequences”: Here at the New Yorker by Brendan Gill, Random House, 1975.
On April 22, 1976 . . . what I’ve done in this case”: This section is based on the two John Calvin Batchelor articles that appeared in the Soho Weekly News in April 1976 and April 1977 as well as my interviews with Batchelor.
“In 1976, at Exeter . . . become Holden Caulfield”: This quote comes from my interview with Becky Lish.
STALKING SALINGER
The reporter was Michael Clarkson . . . Salinger returned to his television: These two episodes are based on the Niagara Falls Review article “Two Hard-won Encounters with J. D. Salinger” by Michael Clarkson.
In the narrative of Salinger’s life . . . His autograph, that is: This episode is based on Betty Eppes’s article “What I Did Last Summer,” including a brief introduction written by the editors, which appeared in The Paris Review in the summer of 1981, as well as my interview with George Plimpton.
“Well, in her letter . . . he’s a human being”: This quote comes from my interview with George Plimpton.
In December that same year, 1980 . . . from Salinger’s book: This description of John Lennon’s murder is based on contemporaneous press accounts as well as Lennon: The Definitive Biography by Ray Coleman, McGraw Hill, 1985.
On March 30, 1981 . . . The Catcher in the Rye: Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography by Kitty Kelley, Simon and Schuster, 1991.
His sense of . . . another or die: “Case History of All of Us,” by Ernest Jones, The Nation, January 1991.
In 1981 . . . “there was a romance”: The information in these two paragraphs, including the direct quotes, comes from my interview with Elaine Joyce. A version of these paragraphs was included in my New York magazine article “J. D. Salinger’s Women.” The incident at the dinner theater in Florida was also mentioned in The Washington Post on May 15, 1982.
TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS
In 1982, another wave . . . end of the discussion: This passage is based on a conversation between Lawrence Grobel and Truman Capote that was included in Conversations with Capote by Lawrence Grobel (New American Library, 1985) as well as my interview with Grobel.
“Nonsense! . . . become enigmas”: This quote comes from my interview with Roger Angell.
In January 1985, for example . . . not under any conditions: This information comes from a letter dated January 20, 1985 written by Salinger to William Faison which was supplied to me by Gloria Murray.
Determined to stop the release . . . “heretofore unpublished letters”: This paragraph is based on “The Salinger File” by Phoebe Hoban; court papers from J. D. Salinger versus Random House and Ian Hamilton; and my interviews with Robert Callagy, Ian Hamilton, and Phoebe Hoban.
It was two o’clock in the afternoon . . . publishing in the mid-1960s: This passage about Salinger and the general topics covered in his deposition is based on an undisclosed source as well as my interview with Robert Callagy.
“Mr. Salinger . . . I just go on from there”: This excerpt from Salinger’s deposition is reproduced from the June 15, 1987 New York magazine which contained Phoebe Hoban’s “The Salinger File.” The excerpt was published as a sidebar to Hoban’s article.
In the course of the deposition . . . without his permission: These two paragraphs come from an undisclosed source.
On November 5 . . . once and for all: This passage comes from material in In Search of J. D. Salinger by Ian Hamilton.
“The whole thing was awful . . . nastier and nastier”: This quote comes from my interview with Ian Hamilton.
“You know that terrible ordeal . . . such a sweet man”: This quote comes from my interview with Andreas Brown.
“Here was a man . . . I thought was very sad”: This quote comes from my interview with Robert Callagy.
In 1987, an incident involving Salinger . . . or so the story went: The episode was reported by Spy magazine whose story was then covered in People magazine on December 28, 1987.
“Salinger fell in love with her . . . escorted off”: These quotes come from my interview with Ian Hamilton.
When it did . . . no lawsuit was ever filed: This information comes from my interview with Catherine Oxenberg’s agent, Harry Gold.
One day in April 1988 . . . punch the camera: A copy of this cover was supplied to me by Richard Johnson.
They left . . . Salinger drove away: This paragraph is based on an account included in the article “Stalking J. D. Salinger: A Mean Feat” by Thomas Collins, which appeared in Newsday on May 1, 1988, as well as my interview with Paul Adao.
On the evening of July 18, 1989 . . . the novel in his possession: This passage is based on a San Diego Union—Tribune article that ran on September 25, 1991, a UPI story called “Psychiatrist: Bardo Interested in Other Stalkers” that ran on October 9, 1991, and a UPI story called “Schaeffer Remembered as Amazing Young Lady’” that ran on July 23, 1991.
For her part, after her divorce . . . the treatment of children: This information was supplied to me by the Alumni Office of Radcliffe College.
“She was very, very pretty . . . discussed Salinger”: This quote comes from my interview with George Plimpton.
“One night, we all . . . with whom I was sitting”: Ibid.
After attending Andover . . . The Sum of Us: The information about Matthew Salinger comes from “Father’s Shadow Can’t Contain Matt Salinger” by Leslie Aldridge Westoff, which ran in The Chicago Tribune on July 28, 1988; “Matt Salinger, Into the Spotlight” by David Remnick, which appeared in The Washington Post; and a 1985 article by Patricia O’Haire called “The Son Rises . . . In Public” that ran in the New York Daily News.
“I see
red . . . a public life”: Salinger gave this quote to Remnick for his Washington Post article.
“You have to be careful . . . ‘Don’t ever come back again’”: This quote comes from my interview with Ethel Nelson.
“In the end . . . ‘Hapworth’ as a book”: This quote comes from my interview with Jonathan Schwartz,
Perhaps the most curious . . . semi-divine act: “The Haunted Life of J. D. Salinger” by Ron Rosenbaum, Esquire.